Post by muttley on Jul 20, 2018 9:28:43 GMT
Good fodder for conversation; What exactly does it look like, to BE Love, to BE Peace, if behavior/outward action, does not necessarily change?
To take the example of one whose focus is perpetually mired upon the apparent ills of the world, who from that vantage point is trying to fix the world...in that case, "Being different" means a shift in identification with what appears to be, towards the Truth of what fundamentally, IS.
One cannot 'be' different just by trying...being different hinges upon seeing the Truth. Folks who are trying to be different who think taking different actions is the way, are still identified with appearance, whereas those who are 'being Love/peace' are not.....to Be Love is to clearly see that ultimately, nothing is actually wrong/bad/in need of changing. Loving what is, is what it means to BE Peace.
However, loving what is does not mean that we never feel compelled to act in ways that enact change, it just means that we don't find fundamental fault/wrongness with any of it.....and, we clearly see that the impetus to act, along with the action itself, is part and parcel of the perfection of the one unified movement that's in play.
Andrew spoke previously of 'bringing the light of awareness to problems', as though in assigning the term 'light of awareness' to his deep focus upon apparent world issues, he can turn that unwavering focus upon wrongness/badness into something noble or indicative of Truth.
The "light of awareness" does not mean ignoring or denying apparent problems, but it does illuminate them to be merely 'apparent' in contrast to that which is fundamental, to that which is Truth.
If one's focus is mired upon the ills of the world and the actions necessary to fix them, he's fumbling around due to the absence of awareness...the absence of light. The light of awareness means that that which is fundamental, takes center stage, while that which is just surface appearance, fades into the background. (not to be denied or denigraded, or even deemed to be non-important, but rather, to be seen for what it is, an empty appearance within the story).
To take the example of one whose focus is perpetually mired upon the apparent ills of the world, who from that vantage point is trying to fix the world...in that case, "Being different" means a shift in identification with what appears to be, towards the Truth of what fundamentally, IS.
One cannot 'be' different just by trying...being different hinges upon seeing the Truth. Folks who are trying to be different who think taking different actions is the way, are still identified with appearance, whereas those who are 'being Love/peace' are not.....to Be Love is to clearly see that ultimately, nothing is actually wrong/bad/in need of changing. Loving what is, is what it means to BE Peace.
However, loving what is does not mean that we never feel compelled to act in ways that enact change, it just means that we don't find fundamental fault/wrongness with any of it.....and, we clearly see that the impetus to act, along with the action itself, is part and parcel of the perfection of the one unified movement that's in play.
Andrew spoke previously of 'bringing the light of awareness to problems', as though in assigning the term 'light of awareness' to his deep focus upon apparent world issues, he can turn that unwavering focus upon wrongness/badness into something noble or indicative of Truth.
The "light of awareness" does not mean ignoring or denying apparent problems, but it does illuminate them to be merely 'apparent' in contrast to that which is fundamental, to that which is Truth.
If one's focus is mired upon the ills of the world and the actions necessary to fix them, he's fumbling around due to the absence of awareness...the absence of light. The light of awareness means that that which is fundamental, takes center stage, while that which is just surface appearance, fades into the background. (not to be denied or denigraded, or even deemed to be non-important, but rather, to be seen for what it is, an empty appearance within the story).
Short story: When Marie struggles with some part of nature, I'll often say something like "bugs are our frieeeeends", and I get to watch her roll her eyes. It's become a running joke with us. One day at squirrel satsang, the bleacher bench we like to use for our talks was crawling with ants, and she said with pretend mockery "I suppose you're going to say 'ants are our frieeeeeends' ".
I asked her to give me a minute. I walked back and forth along the bench, careful to avoid stepping on the ants. I mentally verbalized my desire that they give us some time for our talk, and offered my appreciation for what they do and are, but mostly I was simply 'being Love' in their presence. In a couple of minutes, all the ants were gone and they didn't return while we had our satsang.
Marie was surprised and delighted and wanted to know what I did. This began our satsang discussion of being the change we wish to see.
(what really happened)
ant #1: "hey .. what's that guy doin'?? 
"
"ant #2: "dunno' .. maybe waitin' for us to leave?? "
"ant #3: "d@mn .. he's big!! 
"
"ant #4 : "let's scram before he decides to sit down! 
"
"(** much antenna waggling and pheromone spreading **)
Funny how little amusing coinkidinks happen. Just read this in Kerouac's Dharma Bum's like an hour after reading your ant story:
My other great friends were the ants, a colony of them that wanted to come in the shack and find the honey ( "calling all ants, calling all ants, come and get your ho-ney" sang a little boy one day in the shack), so I went out to their anthill and made a trail of honey leading them into the back garden, and they were at that new vein of joy for a week. I even got down on my knees and talked to the ants. There were beautiful flowers all around the shack, red, purple, pink, white, we kept making bouquets but the prettiest of all was the one Japhy made of just pine cones and a sprig of pine needles. It had that simple look that characterized all his life. He'd come barging into the shack with his saw and see me sitting there and say: "Why did you sit around all day?"
"I am the Buddha known as the Quitter".
